If anyone is remotely interested in owning this strange but insanely groovy film in high definition, then today is the day and Nick Setchfield has written a review of its Blu ray release over at SFX. It's certainly not a film you would watch for the story but visually it's pretty unique and completely of its time. I remember first reading about it in Photoplay film magazine when I was a teenager and wanting to see it, but having to wait until it was shown on tv. In these days of instant accessibility it seems strange to recall just how long we would have to wait to see a film and the constant checking of the tv listings for fear of missing it.

The other factor was of course that there was absolutely no way to 'keep' a film and watch it later. There were no video recorders and heaven forbid if my parents wanted to watch something on the other channel at the same time! Anyhow as it so happened, it did finally show up in the listings and it was on so late that my folks had gone to bed anyway. I had my SLR camera set up on a tripod with the shutter speed set at 1/15th of a second to avoid any diagonal tv scan lines. I also had a cassette player to record the music soundtrack which I'd heard was a good one. I did actually manage to get some pretty good shots, considering there was no replay and the soundtrack, well, I've always liked it and its one of those that has been heavily sampled over the years by the likes of Dimitri from Paris. Anyway, I guess this is why owning a good quality copy of the film for me is a pretty big deal.

A couple of years after the tv screening and by chance, I was lucky enough to discover a massive photo album of original on-set bromide prints in a little back-yard movie memorabilia shop. They were pretty expensive for a teenager who was earning his money working after school in the local supermarket and I kick myself now for not asking my father for a loan to buy what would now be worth an absolute fortune. I did however manage to buy a few of the prime shots and I have never seen these in print or on the internet since. One day I may scan them...

Saturday, 28 July 2012

A trip to my favourite Parisian flea market revealed the last of a batch of Mademoiselle Age Tendre magazines that I'd discovered last month, so I bought it and here it is: Issue #41, March 1968. Great cover! Luckily it was one that I'd pondered buying last time but didn't, due to the amount of vintage magazines that I'd already found and bought in another part of town. The photos below are shots that I took as I wandered around and when you get to the 'Rolling Stone' lips, yes that really is a urinal!

An unofficial music video by David Dean Burkhart for the first single from the Superhumanoids album, "Exhibitionists." Footage is from the 1969 film "Slogan," starring Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin.

Two and a half hours after a rapid exodus from London's East End and here we are in Paris, and it is sizzling... well, humid anyhow. The first thing that caught my eye when I got off the Eurostar was a stunning poster for this month's NUMÉRO magazine. A quick flick through the magazine itself reveals some terrific photography by Sebastian Kim and also by Warren Du Preez & Nick Thornton Jones, who are responsible for the cover.

A little bit later and a stroll around the neighbourhood with Michelle revealed two comic shops, one of which dedicated most of its window to The Dark Knight.

A flower shop that seemed to be sporting a comic book font for its signage.

And the history of the Apple Macintosh in one shop window. Well, almost.

I just rediscovered this comic and had forgotten how action-packed it was. Ms Mystic #1. October, 1982. Created & Written by Neal Adams, with the assistance of Mike Nasser. Lettered by John Costanza. Coloured by Cory Adams. Zips by Joel Adams.